All I Need is Proof
by EmmyGracey
Summary: What happens when Maureen moves back in with Mark and Roger? Will Mark admit his feelings and ask her out again? If he does, he'll need proof that she'll say yes. Rated T because it's RENT and because I'm a bit paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N:) This is my first Fanfiction story EVER so please be nice, and reviews are certainly welcome!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RENT or any of the characters from it. I hope you enjoy!**

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><p><strong>All I Need is Proof<strong>

Mark Cohen woke up one particularly cold November morning. He lay tangled in the sheets of his bed, reaching over to his nightstand where his glasses sat on top of a pile of screenplays. Once he had the willingness to get up, Mark made his way to the bathroom in the loft he shared with his best friend, Roger Davis.

"Brr…" Mark shivered. "It's colder than usual." Of course, the fact that he was only in a pair of flannel pants didn't help.

Since Roger was still asleep, Mark would be the first to shower, which meant warm water.

Mark let the warmth of the water soak through his bones, it felt wonderful on this frigid morning.

Once Mark was finished, he stepped out of the shower to look in the mirror. He wiped off the condensation, then took a long look at himself. His bright blue eyes staring back at him, his very lean frame, his still soaking wet hair, looking more brown, than its natural strawberry blonde. As the filmmaker looked, he was happy with what he saw, he'd always told himself that he'd never be the most attractive man on Earth, but he's always liked himself just the way he was. He was proud of who he was, but he just couldn't help the fact that he felt like something was missing.

Mark went into his room quickly to get dressed. Leaving the door open slightly, he pulled out one of his favorite sweaters, and a pair of brown corduroy pants. He quickly changed and looked around his room. Screenplays scattered about, some shoes, his film projector, and numerous reels of film protected inside their tins.

Mark picked up one of the tins and walked over to sit on his bed.

"New Years Eve 1989" Mark chuckled and smiled when he read it aloud. "I can't believe this was almost two years ago."

He remembered it like it was yesterday; Roger and Mimi flaunting their newfound love, Collins and Angel laughing and carrying on dressed as James Bond and Kitty Galore. He couldn't help but feel sad after that thought. They all missed Angel so much, especially Collins. And of course, there was Joanne and her drama queen, Maureen, Mark's ex-girlfriend. He missed her with all of his heart, even though she dumped him for Joanne. He and Maureen were still friends, he was friends with Joanne, too, but he couldn't help but feel jealous.

"Oh… Maureen" Mark said quietly, almost in a sigh.

"Good morning!" Roger said about ten minutes later.

Mark, still staring at the film tin, looked up, startled. "Oh, good morning" the blonde said with a light smile.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Roger inquired, taking the tin out of Mark's hand. "New Years Eve 1989" Roger laughed. "That was some night, huh?"

Mark smiled, now. "It definitely was."

Roger looked at his friend. "You don't seem like yourself. Something buggin' you?"

"Just doing some thinking."

"About…?" Roger wondered.

"That night, last year, Angel's death, Maure-" Mark shut up as soon as he knew what he was saying.

"Maureen?" Roger asked. "I thought you were over her and just wanted to be friends. Are you telling me that you still love her?"

"No!" Mark said, almost too quickly to be true. "No, we're just friends now. Pure and simple."

Roger could tell he didn't mean it. "Come on, man. Cheer up! Let's head down to the Life Café and drink this little problem away."

"Rog, I can't, I planned on doing some filming today. We can tonight, though." Mark grabbed his blue and white striped scarf, his jacket, and made his way to the door.

"Alright, lover boy!" Roger yelled to a red faced Mark. He just rolled his eyes as Roger cackled, cracking himself up.

Mark picked up his camera and slid the door to the loft back, only to see Maureen staring back at him. Her hair was down, reddish brown curls lining her face, her green eyes, bright. A simple black tank top, leather jacket, skin tight leather pants, and a pair of knee high black boots.

Mark couldn't believe how beautiful she looked.

"Marky!" she squealed, jumping into his arms for a hug.

"Maureen? What are you doing here?" Mark asked, simply.

"Maureen?" Roger shouted after hearing his roommate's statement.

"Hey Pookie, miss me?" She giggled, looking at Mark. "Joanne and I ended it, it wasn't working out…"

Roger eyed Mark when Maureen said that, he couldn't help but notice the shy smile on Mark's face after he heard about the break up. Roger grinned. If Mo was good to his best friend, and didn't cheat on him, or break his heart this time, he certainly wouldn't mind if they got back together.

"Do you need a place to stay?" Roger asked.

"Well… um, no…?" Maureen said quietly, looking at the ground.

Roger smiled again. "Once a roommate, always a roommate"

Maureen squealed again. "Really? Thank you so much!" She jumped up with excitement.

"You can stay in my room, if you'd like." Mark chimed in.

"Oh, thank you, Marky!" She kissed his cheek and ran to Mark's room to get herself settled.

Roger and Mark watched her for a minute until they caught each other's glance and Roger mouthed silently to Mark, "you still love her." A smirk crept across his face, and he winked at the blushing blonde.

"Shut up!" Mark said a little too loudly. He glanced in his room to see if Maureen had heard him, luckily she hadn't.

Roger just smiled and walked to his room to grab his guitar.

Mark made his way to the door and sighed. "Well, she's staying with us, again." Only, Mark thought it might be different this time, at least he hoped it would be. He took one last glance at Maureen and smiled, wondering if he'd ever get a second chance, or if she'd even want to try having a serious relationship together again. And with that thought, he walked out the door.

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><p><strong>(AN:) Woo! First chapter up! This is fun, I really enjoy writing this story! Please review! Thanks!**

**~ Mrs. Emily Cohen**


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N:) Sorry for the wait, I've been insanely busy with school musical rehearsals, and I just started my second semester in school and my English teacher decided that non-stop essays and story excerpts would be a good idea. :P I'll try to be better at updating this quicker, please just bear with me! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own RENT or any of the characters. (Although I'd LOVE to have Mark, he'd be the first thing I'd take! ;D)**

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><p>That evening, Roger sat at his favorite table in the Life Café, waiting for his best friend. He looked around at all of the posters on the walls, the dark wood of the tables and chairs, and then he found himself thinking about all of the memories he had here. Especially the night after Maureen's protest back in 1989, and how everyone was celebrating everything bohemian. Roger came back to reality after looking out the window at the falling snow, and Mark running towards the door.<p>

Mark rushed inside, looking around for a moment until he saw Roger at his table. He walked over to his roommate, smiling.

"Hey, man!" Was Roger's response to seeing his friend. "Hi." Mark said, as he sat down. "We came here to drink my troubles away, but it seems like she found me first." He stated with a laugh.

Roger smiled. "That's true." He laughed. "But seriously, Mark, do you still love her? If you do, then there's no better time than now to tell her."

"Who? Maureen? No! Why would you think something like that?" Mark exclaimed, his pale complexion turning a light pink. "I just don't like to wear my heart on my sleeve, ya know?" Mark let out a chuckle. "When I first met Joanne, we actually became friends quite fast. Awkward at first, but that went away quickly. I didn't want to ruin our friendship." Mark looked serious, nodded.

"That's understandable, but they're not together anymore! You should ask Maureen out again."

Mark glanced down at his camera for a moment, he wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that. "I-I'm not sure, Roger." Mark stuttered. "I'd only ask her out again if I knew that she'd say yes. I'm not sure if I could handle her telling me no after all that's happened over the past two years."

Roger looked at the filmmaker and asked sincerely, "if you knew that she'd say yes, you'd ask her?"

Mark thought about it for a moment. "Yes. Yes, I would."

Roger smiled. "Would you be willing to find out?" His smile turned into a smirk. "Because I can find out-"

"Roger! I can't just go up and ask her!"

Roger was starting to get a little annoyed with his friend now. "I never said that! We could just do some little things to find out."

Mark's patience was getting thin. "Roger, this is ridiculous. If I want to date Maureen again, I'll do it on my own terms, when I'm ready."

Roger was close to losing his temper, but he didn't want to scream at his best friend. With is voice raised, almost through gritted teeth, he stated, "You know this is what you want, you're just afraid to admit it. If you keep this crap up you'll be alone with that freakin' camera forever!"

Mark just stared at Roger, unsure of what to do. He eventually just stood up and made his way to the door.

Mark walked out the door of the Life with his head down, staring at the ground. Left hand in his pocket, right hand holding tightly onto his camera. Mark was in his own little world for a moment, Roger's words running through his brain.

Mark was quickly brought back to earth when he ran into someone. He landed flat on his back in the snow, thankful his camera was safe. His glasses fell off of his face when he made contact with the stranger.

The person he ran into tripped and suddenly fell on top of him. Since his glasses had fallen off, Mark couldn't quite make out who it was. The person that fell on top of him picked his glasses up out of the snow and placed them gently on his face. He could finally see who he ran into, it was Maureen. Her beautiful green eyes staring into his bright blue eyes.

"Oh, Mo! I'm so sorry! I didn't hurt you, did I?" Mark asked her with concern.

Maureen laughed. "Oh Marky, I'm fine." She smiled, still lying on top of him. "Why were you leaving so soon, Pookie? I was coming in to see you and Roger."

Mark was surprised by this. He couldn't help but wonder why she was coming to see them, and not out at a club or performing somewhere. "I just had some things on my mind, you know." Mark finally responded. He kept staring at the beautiful brunette shocked at the fact that she was still lying on top of him.

Maureen smiled. "Well, why don't you come back inside with me and we talk to Roger?"

Mark thought about it. "No, I think I'll just head back to the loft and edit some film."

Maureen rolled her eyes. "Mark, come on! For me?" She pouted.

The filmmaker tried to resist, he really did, but he just couldn't. "Alright, I'll go back in with you… but you seriously need to get off of me now."

"Oh!" Maureen exclaimed, embarrassed. "I'm sorry" she said as she got off and brushed the snow from her hair and clothes. She grabbed Mark's hand to help him up and brushed the snow out of his hair, too.

Mark smiled. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She responded, smiling brightly, wrapping an arm around his as they walked inside.

Mark noticed immediately, and was afraid whether or not to reciprocate the gesture. He decided that for now, it'd best if he didn't.

Roger still sat at his table in the Café, a bottle of beer in his hand. He was still annoyed at the way his friend reacted to a simple question. Roger knew Mark better than anyone, he knew Mark still loved Maureen. As he took another drink from his beer he wondered why Mark just wouldn't tell her.

The rest of his thoughts were cut short at the sight of Maureen and Mark walking in together. Roger noticed Maureen's arm gracefully wrapped around his friend's, and he noticed that Mark just let his arm hang down like normal. Roger rolled his eyes, thinking about how Mark will never get anywhere if he keeps crap like that up.

"Hi, Roger!" Maureen said cheerfully.

Roger smiled. "Hi, Maureen. Mark."

"Roger." Mark stated, stone-faced. "Two more beers, please!" Mark shouted kindly to the waiter.

"I'm going to the restroom, you boys behave while I'm gone." Maureen snickered. Roger and Mark both gave her light smiles as she walked away.

A few seconds of silence went by before Roger abruptly hit Mark lightly in the arm. "Why didn't you wrap your arm around hers?" Roger said, a little too loudly.

Mark let out an angry sigh. "I was worried about what she would do! But, I got one of the signs I was hoping for."

"Shut up!" Roger exclaimed. "What happened out there?"

Mark smiled. "Not much, we ran into each other. I landed on my back and she landed face down on top of me."

Roger chuckled hearing this. "And…" He urged.

"She kinda… refused to get up." Mark said with an embarrassed laugh, his pale cheeks turning a light pink, again. "She just laid on top of me in the snow for a while, smiling. Then she persuaded me to come back in. She finally got off of me, I got up, and she brushed the snow off of my jacket and hair." Mark had a huge smile on his face, now.

Roger looked at his friend and smiled, wondering if he'd ever seen Mark this happy before. "So how are you feeling about this whole Maureen thing? I personally would love to see the two of you together again."

"Well, this whole situation was a start, but I'd be more comfortable with a little more proof. So, if that comes-"

"_When _it comes." Roger smirked.

"_If_ it comes" Mark corrected, his friend. "Then I'd gladly as Miss Maureen Johnson out again."

"Good!" Roger stated, happily. "So will you finally admit that you are still in love with her?"

Mark laughed. "Is it that obvious?"

Roger smiled at his friend's statement. "I knew it."

Mark laughed, again. "I never stopped loving her, I just tried to cover up my true feelings. Apparently, I did a crappy job at it." Mark said, smiling.

"Well, someone who doesn't know you as well as I do, really wouldn't notice." Roger comforted, slowly.

"I wonder if Maureen noticed?" Mark wondered aloud, some nervousness in his voice.

"I don't know, man. I guess you'll just have to ask and find out." Roger stated simply, patting his friend on the back.

"That's what I was afraid of." Mark retorted. "Once I ask her out, I'll ask if she knew."

"So asking her out is a definite?" Roger beamed.

"When I get the proof I want, Roger!"

"Okay, okay." Roger said, chuckling. "I honestly can't wait now."

"Yeah, well it could be a while before she-" Mark cut his sentence short when he saw Maureen walking back to the table, a big smile across her face. She sat down in front of her best friends. "So, what'd I miss?" She asked, innocently.

"Nothing." Mark and Roger answered in unison.

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><p><strong>(AN:) A big shout out to my amazing friend Ashley M. for helping me with this chapter! I couldn't have done it without her! :) I hope you liked it. Reviews are always welcome! Thank you!**

**~ Mrs. Emily Cohen.**


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